By Debra Friedman, STAFF WRITER

Published 4:56 pm, Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A 59-year-old Greenwich man was sentenced to five years in prison Monday in U.S. District Court in Hartford for distributing child pornography over the Internet, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Daniel Ward, of 259 Valley Road in Cos Cob, also will serve 10 years of supervised release and pay a $1,000 fine upon his release. Additionally, Ward will be required to register as a sexual offender and will not be permitted to have unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Ward pleaded guilty in January to one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography. Officials said Ward distributed the images on Feb 24, 2008, over his America Online account. Officials from the U.S. Attorney's Office said Ward knew the images depicted actual minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

U.S. District Court Judge Alfred Covello also authorized the U.S. Probation Office to place monitoring software on any computer that Ward will use and to conduct searches of Ward's residence if the office has a reason to believe he is not being compliant with the conditions of his supervised release, according to a press release.

Ward is scheduled to report to the Bureau of Prisons on Jan. 3, 2010, to begin serving his time.